The 2014 Massachusetts state primary has been moved up a week from September 16 to September 9 due to the passage of House Bill 3764.

This bill only changes the 2014 primary date and does not affect future state primary dates. The bill was introduced and passed by the House on November 18, passed by the Senate the following day, and signed by the governor a week later.

A special election for the Massachusetts Ninth Norfolk Representative District has been called to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of state Rep. Daniel B. Winslow.

The office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin announced the special primary election will be held on December 10, 2013. The special general election will follow on January 7, 2014.

Winslow resigned from the Senate to work as vice president and general counsel at Rimini Street, a third-party provider of enterprise software support services.

A special election for the Massachusetts Second Hampden and Hampshire Senate District has been called to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of state Senator Michael R. Knapik.

The office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin announced the special primary election will be held on October 8, 2013. The special general election will follow on November 5.

Knapik resigned from the Senate to work as executive director of University Admissions at Westfield State University.

A special election for the Massachusetts 16th Worcester Representative District has been called to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of Representative John P. Fresolo.

The office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin announced the special primary election will be held on August 13. The special general election will follow on September 10.

Fresolo resigned from the House of Representatives on May 22 after a House ethics investigation. The nature of the investigation has not been made public, according to the Boston Globe.

A special election for the Massachusetts Sixth Bristol Representative District has been called to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of Representative David B. Sullivan.

The office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin announced the special primary election will be held on August 13. The special general election will follow on September 10.

Sullivan resigned his position two weeks ago to become the executive director of the Fall River Housing Authority, according to The Herald News.

The Massachusetts Office of Campaign & Political Finance (OCPF) is holding a public hearing on May 8 concerning proposed updates to regulations regarding campaign finance disclosure.

The hearing will address revised provisions to the existing code and a new regulatory section “concerning the identification of funding sources for tax exempt and other organizations that raise funds to make contributions or independent expenditures”.

Additional OCPF proposals include addressing the use of a candidate’s legal defense fund, clarifying subvendor reporting requirements, and amending provisions concerning credit and debit card contributions. The draft regulations are available here.

The Massachusetts Lobbyist Section of Secretary of the Commonwealth’s office has informed lobbyists it will reinterpret a reporting requirement in order to comply with a court order.

Initially, Secretary of State William Galvin’s office had asserted it had the authority to interpret “all direct business associations with public officials” under state law expansively and require lobbyists disclose the names of all officials with whom a lobbyist has communicated. In reaction, a lawsuit had been brought against the Secretary of State’s office by the ACLU, AirStrategies, the Associated Industries of Massachusetts, Citizens for Juvenile Justice, Common Cause, and the Conservation Law Foundation. A Superior Court Judge ruled against the secretary.

To comply with the court’s order, the secretary will now require disclosure of the names of public officials to whom a lobbyist has made a lobbying communication only if the lobbyist also has a direct business association with the public official. Following the court’s order, the secretary informed lobbyists this means a joint enterprise or transaction of a commercial or financial nature directly by or between the lobbyist and the public official.

The Lobbyist Section has rescinded all correction and rejection notices inconsistent with this interpretation of business association.

Special election dates for a Massachusetts Senate seat and a state House seat have been announced by the Secretary of State.

The special primary election for the First Suffolk Senate District seat will be held on April 30, the same date as the special primary election for the U.S. Senate seat recently vacated by Senator John Kerry. The special general election for the Senate seat will be held on May 28.

May 28 will also be the special primary election date for the Eighth Suffolk District House seat. The special election for the house seat will be held on June 25, the same date as the special general election for the U.S. Senate.

The House election is being called to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of Representative Martha Marty Walz. The Senate election is being called to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of Senator Jack Hart.

An argument put forth by the Massachusetts Secretary of State’s office requiring lobbyists to disclose every communication with public officials “makes absolutely no sense,” wrote Superior Court Judge Janet Sanders.

Secretary of State William Galvin’s office had argued it has the authority to interpret “all direct business associations with public officials” expansively and require the names of all officials with whom a lobbyist has communicated. In reaction, a lawsuit was brought against the Secretary of State’s office by the ACLU, AirStrategies, the Associated Industries of Massachusetts, Citizens for Juvenile Justice, Common Cause, and the Conservation Law Foundation.

According to the Boston Herald, the arguments in favor of the disclosure requirement were dismissed by the judge in her decision.

A special election for U.S. Senator John Kerry’s seat will be held on June 25, 2013, assuming receipt of his resignation today. This morning, Senator Kerry’s nomination as secretary of state was unanimously approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He is expected to be confirmed by the full Senate this afternoon and subsequently tender his Senate resignation. Governor Deval Patrick expects to appoint a temporary replacement tomorrow, according to the Boston Globe. The primary election will be held on April 30.

Massachusetts lobbyists using a LinkedIn online discussion group are not prohibited from soliciting contributions for candidates from the group.

The Office of Campaign and Political Finance (OCPF) issued an opinion, AO-12-03, on November 20, detailing when a lobbyist can solicit contributions on LinkedIn without being considered a regulated intermediary or conduit bundling contributions. The OCPF considers the use of social media, such as LinkedIn, as a “personal service” that is generally exempt from campaign finance limitations or disclosure requirements.

Asking members of a lobbyist’s LinkedIn group “to contribute directly to candidates does not involve ‘arranging’ for the making of contributions” requiring application the law,” the opinion holds. However, a lobbyist could be regulated if contributions are either “‘delivered, whether in person or by mail [by the regulated intermediary], to a particular candidate or such candidate’s authorized committee or agent’ or made ‘in a manner that identifies in writing the person who arranged the making of the contributions.’” For example, in the instance of direct contributions to a candidate, if a lobbyists “actually instructs the contributors to identity, with a note on their contribution checks, the legislative or executive agent as the person responsible for arranging the contribution, the legislative or executive agent would be subject” to regulation.

The restrictions for bundling apply only if at least one of the bundled contributions is more than $156. The OCPF also opined that persons who are not lobbyists may use LinkedIn or similar sites to solicit contributions for candidates, with certain restrictions for public employees.

Because of the state of emergency declared in advance of Hurricane Sandy, the Massachusetts Office of Campaign & Political Finance (OCPF) has issued a notice extending the due date of pre-election reports until 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, October 30, 2012. Reports covering activity from August 20 to October 19 were to be due October 29.

Although its office is closed today, the OCPF notice states, “Office staff will be checking their office voice mail during the day on Monday and will be returning calls to assist filers as they are able.”

The Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance is holding a public hearing on July 25. The hearing will address implementation of new and changing regulations dealing with issues such as electronic filing, transference of funds between political committees, and procedures for informational guidance requests from the office.

The hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. at One Ashburton Place, Room 411, Boston. The proposed regulations can be found here.

Michael Sullivan, the Director of the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance, has been reappointed for another six-year term to the agency.

According to the Boston Herald, the decision was unanimous to reappoint Sullivan, who has been the director for almost 18 years.

For full news coverage, read:

“Michael Sullivan reappointed as OCPF chief” by Gintautas Dumcius in the Boston Herald.

A thank you goes to Jim Sedor, Editor of News You Can Use, for alerting us to this news.